Page 52 of A Dye Hard Holiday

I hadn’t talked to Jessica, other than at the corporate events I attended with Josh, since the Broadman case. “I’m doing great, Ms. Stanley. What brings you to town?” I asked like I didn’t already know.

“The Christmas Bandits, of course.”

“Is crime down that much in Cincinnati?” I asked.

“Hardly, but this story impacts one of our own, so we wanted to do a piece while Josh’s show is on hiatus for the holidays.”

“It can’t hurt,” Adrian said from beside me.

“It’s good to see you again also, Detective Goode.”

“Likewise, ma’am.”

“Well, where would you like to do the interview?”

“Do we really have to do this?” I whined.

“Yep, with or without you. Come with me and you drive the narrative, stay behind and there’s no telling what I’ll do.”

“Let’s see if we can interview a few of the people impacted by the bandits and perhaps talk to the local businesses who are putting up the reward money.”

“Sounds perfect. Maybe we can bait your bandits and catch them in the act.”

“Yeah, okay, Daphne. Let’s go gather up the rest of Mystery, Inc and get this show on the road.”

“JUST A LITTLE MOREto the right, baby,” I urged Gabe.

“Here?” he asked, moving his body to the right.

“That’s too far.”

“Here?”

“Oh yeah! Right there.”

Gabe turned away from the ginormous inflatable snowman he was trying to tether to stakes in the semi-frozen ground. His glare let me know just how much I had irritated him. You damn-fucking-well know that I didn’t want that thing in my yard, but it was part of Gabe’s sting operation. What punk-ass bandit could resist that big fucker in the police captain’s yard? It practically screamed, “Come and get me, fucknugget!” Anyway, if that thing was going in my front yard, then it had to be placed perfectly.

“You’re getting even with me, aren’t you?” Gabe asked.

“Baby, I have much more creative ways to punish you than have you keep scootingthat thingall around the yard.”

“No, you don’t,” Gabe returned quickly. “Your methodsencouragebad behavior. Pretty sure we recently discussed this.”

“Do you wish to see my dark side, Gabriel?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Hell yeah!”

“You’re too eager.”

Gabe shrugged. “Hey, you set the precedent, not me.”

“It just so happens, I do plan to pay you back for involving our sanctuary in your little scheme.”

Gabe crossed the yard and hauled me to his body. “I’m ready right now.”

“Follow me.”

Gabe didn’t do what I said. Instead, he tossed me over his shoulder and bolted into the house, taking the stairs two at a time.